Went to old school! Star pd 45 as carry gun now

[In memory of dad]

Bought it for 280 cash with PAC grips on it, wood grips, extra buffer and complete spring rebuild kit. Took it to the range and ran 50 rounds thru it at 15 yards and impressed with it! Worked fine and will make Great carry gun for under 300 dollars!
Wish star was still in business but this one will be carried a lot! Shot very little. Lightweight aluminum frame with 7 rounds of 45 should get the job done if need be! Thanks

[JERRYS.]

those and the star bm9 were good little guns in the 80s. the firing pin breakage was the only issue ive heard of with them. check marstar or something like that for spare parts.

[arizona98tj]

I still have a Star PD that I bought back in the '70s.

[Bill DeShivs]

They are great guns. I have 2.
I can make firing pins for them.

[kerreckt]

I own a number of star pistols including a PD. They all have been accurate dependable pistols. It is too bad the company has gone out of business. They made a quality product. The only negative with the PD is that the feed ramp is part of the alloy frame. This makes it prone to excessive wear. Mine has never given me a problem of any kind but I can see that the ramp is the weakness in the design. I always am on the look out for used Star pistols. Best wishes

[High Desert]

Congratulations, looks like you picked up a nice little pistol.

[RickB]

Back in the day, cracked frames were warned about. I've had two PDs, and one did crack. The disconnector runs in a slot cut in the frame wall, visible when the right grip panel is removed. The frame is quite thin, and then cutting the disco slot makes it paper-thin, and mine cracked where the frame wall is thinnest. It could have been that way when I bought it, used, and the gun rarely ever missed a beat, but I did stop shooting it after seeing the crack.

[GyMac]

They were great guns then and still are now.

[Sgt127]

Some big names back in the day claimed it was the perfect carry gun. Bill Wilson comes to mind. I have one, but, got it after the .45 and IPSC days (when I carried a Detonics).

Now I generally carry a .40. Dept ammo was a deciding factor.

[obiwan1]

I had one years ago. I had two issues with it. First - i'm a lefty and there was no ambi safety available for it. Second - hammer bite. I used to get it a lot even after filing down the hammer spur about .25"! I got rid of it ( at a 100% profit) when Star stopped making it and I didn't think that getting replacement recoil spring assemblies would be very easy. I never had any type of mechanical issues and the gun was a great carry.

[RickB]

I made an ambi safety for mine. I drilled and tapped the end of the safety pin, then threaded the stub of a pin I left on a 1911 safety, and screwed it on. I had to shim it to get the levers properly aligned, but it worked great.

[In memory of dad]

I a lefty and it works great for me! Only
Problem with it now is my hk and sigs are jealous cause I don't carry them no more!

[leadcounsel]

I've read that the STAR BM might not be drop proof.

Can anyone confirm whether these Stars are drop proof. To me, that's a big deal in a carry gun.

[RickB]

I think they have inertia firing pins, and if that's the case, they should be safe if dropped on the hammer, but perhaps not if dropped on the muzzle.
I remember there being a concern about broken firing pins due to dry-fire, as there's a pin that limits forward firing pin travel, and banging the FP off that retaining pin can break the FP, but I'm drawing a blank on the presence or absence of a FP return spring; there must be?

[Kev]

I myself have Ben looking for one for carry.
All steel, reliable, very reasonably priced..
What's not to like???

[Eight_is_enough]

Worked fine and will make Great carry gun for under 300 dollars!
Wish star was still in business but this one will be carried a lot! Shot very little. Lightweight aluminum frame with 7 rounds of 45 should get the job done if need be!

They are dollar for dollar one of the best pistols ever made and are a great first carry gun for those on a limited budget (or who simply have better things to do with their money!) Most of us eventually go on to a higher quality (and much more expensive) carry gun, but if I was still carrying my PD I wouldn't feel the slightest bit under-gunned as far a dealing with 2-legged attackers. I got mine over 30 years ago and shot the heck of it with no problems, but I obeyed the manual and seldom shot anything larger than 185 gr. I still have complete faith in it because I know it will work, every time.

[Quentin2]

I think you'll be happy with the Star PD as long as it hasn't been abused or heavily used. Don't dry fire it though, I did and eventually the firing pin broke (tip broke off). I couldn't find a factory replacement so had one fabricated which works well.

I don't carry it any more but still take it to the range once in a while.

[Ozzieman]

My first carry 1911? was a PD back in the early 80’s.
The thing had dents, scratches and wore bluing and rattled like a can full of nuts. Yes it was a well worn gun.
I carried it for several years until I could afford something better. Shot hundreds of factory and lot more reloads. Never failed once.
Sold it to a friend that used it as a backup gun in his truck.

[leadchucker]

I had to go look in the safe to be sure that wasn't my PD with the Pachmayr grips you had there.

It's a sweet shooter. Make sure your recoil buffer isn't worn out. I'm told that shooting it without a good buffer in it runs the risk of cracking the frame. Replacement buffers can be found, and you might want to keep a spare or two around if you shoot it a lot.

[Wreck-n-Crew]

Congratulations. Not a bad looking gun.

Everything is built lighter these days, TV, Fridge, Car, and even the cell phone. Works well enough for those, but in the right gun that extra weight adds to it's ability to do things better. IE Accuracy, Steadiness and recoil, welcome to the dark side!